Moderator: Selena Couture
Location: Room 1140 – Pavilion André Aidenstadt – 2920 chemin de la tour- Université de Montréal
(Building 19 on the UdM Map)
In-Person Session
Sponsored by the Department of Drama – University of Alberta
Monique Mojica and the Mothers of our Indigenous Nations
This paper discusses Monique Mojica’s two best-known works: the radio play, Bird Woman and the Suffragettes (1991), and the playwright’s only published full-length piece, Princess Pocahontas and the Blue Spots (1991). My discussion focusses on the plays’ representations of Indigenous women’s roles in resistance to imperial rule and colonialist ideology throughout history and the manner in which intergenerational connection – particularly that between mother and daughter – is of profound relevance to this resistance. Mojica’s writing traces our connections to the grandmothers of our Indigenous nations, signifying the importance of continued connection. The paper thus addresses to the importance of our continued search for our missing sisters.
The half-hour play, Birdwoman and the Suffragettes, reconfigures the well-known tale of Sacajawea (Lemhi Shoshone), the guide to the American Lewis and Clarke expedition, recuperating her from historical appropriation. Mojica represents Sacajawea as a resistant leader, countering colonialist depictions of a docile, willing guide. In Princess Pocahontas, Mojica focuses on the journey of “Contemporary Woman,” as she tries “to recover the history of her grandmothers as a tool towards her own healing” (136). The plot revolves around this mixed-blood search for identity, with the “blue spot” signifying “Indian blood” (141). The play reimagines Indigenous woman leaders from Mexico, Peru, and North America, emblematically empowering these figures, and, while Mojica devises some disconcerting representations of sexual violence, the scenes are not gratuitous, but are used to relay the playwright’s ultimate message of female reclamation by emphasizing subversion, solidarity, and global connection. Towards the play’s surreal conclusion, Matoaka – Rebecca or “Pocahontas” – reaches out and “throw[s] a lifeline across generations”; for her, it is “enough that [her] child live[s]” (31). This closing scene reflects the salience of our maternal ties, as well as our ongoing intergenerational – arguably interworldly – connection to our foremothers. So, too, does the scene speak to the importance of our continued struggle to find our missing grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and sisters. Given lack of meaningful governmental support, this work continues to be a community endeavor imagined and reimagined through our artistic output.
Sarah Mackenzie, University of Ottawa
SARAH MACKENZIE currently teaches Indigenous Studies at the University of Ottawa. She holds a PhD and M.A. in Feminist and Gender Studies from the University of Ottawa, as well as an undergraduate degree in Humanites from Carleton University. Her masters and doctoral work examined the ways Indigenous playwrights address the colonialist legacy of violence against women as it continues to play out in contemporary North American contexts. Her first book, Indigenous Women’s Theatre in Canada (Fernwood Publishing Company) furthers this reasearch. She has taught Indigenous Studies at the University of New Brunswick, Sheridan College, and the University of Ottawa. So, too, has she taught Gender Studies and Literature. Her academic research interests include Indigenous theatre, postcolonial feminist theory, Canadian history, and Indigenous literatures. She has also been involved in several writing projects that relate to the roles of Indigenous women activists in Canadian history and the state surveillance of racialized activists. Broadly, her writing considers the way in which people come to define themselves in a “multicultural” space like Canada, focusing particularly upon redressing colonial violence by engaging with decolonial aesthetics. Sarah’s syncretic identity as the daughter of a Métis/Anishinaabe mother and a first-generation Scottish-immigrant father is integral to her role as a feminist, antiracist, academic, researcher, and critic. Her methods of interpretive analysis are thus founded upon a strong commitment to elucidating and subverting violent colonial transgressions. Both her academic work and social activism are fundamentally concerned with the outmoding and dismantling of colonial hierarchies, the rebalancing of unequal power relations between Indigenous peoples and White settlers, and the eventual forging of alternative modes of relation.
Championing Indigenous Languages through Theatre
Tara Morris, Hul’q’umi’num’ speaker and Cowichan Tribes member, and Kirsten Sadeghi-Yekta will discuss how they have used theatre to support the cross-generational transfer of Indigenous languages and culture by providing opportunities for Indigenous artists to develop new skills, engage in research, and share their talents with the academic and Indigenous community. Over the past eight years, they have worked together with Elders, performers, and language teachers of Coast Salish languages. Our drama troupe selected several stories and re-designed them as dramatic art. Stories have been interpreted through techniques of image work, sculpting, movement, improvisation, dialogue, and music. Their project has helped to bring the languages to the eyes and ears of community members, and, for the participants, it has helped unlock their ability to speak their traditional languages. Many of the younger generation desire to learn the language or to improve their fluency and to connect with their heritage. Traditional culture is centred on performance and storytelling, and applied theatre has been an excellent means for bringing forward stories and encouraging discussion on important social issues.
This paper presentation will present the results of this project and describe how it improved the social, spiritual, and cultural well-being of the Indigenous participants by grounding them in their identity, heritage, and traditional knowledge. By making the language accessible and entertaining, we hope to galvanize a new generation of language learners. Documenting the process has allowed us to report to CATR on best practices of using theatre for language revitalization.
Tara Morris, University of Victoria
Tara Morris is a PhD student in Theatre and Linguistics at the University of Victoria. She is a Cowichan Tribes member and Hulq’umi’num’ speaker. Tara has been teaching theatre in the Hul’q’umi’num’ language program since 2021.
Kirsten Sadeghi-Yekta, University of Victoria
Kirsten Sadeghi-Yekta is Associate Professor in Applied Theatre at the University of Victoria. Together with Tara Morris, she has directed shows with the Hul’q’umi’num Language Academy. At the moment Kirsten is working on her research on Coast Salish Language Reawakening through Theatre. She is also the Artistic Director of Project Limelight, a free theatre program for youth in the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver.